Cedar Bench

This is my entry in the summer contest. I actually had been thinking of building a bench about two months ago and had already sketched out some plans before the contest was announced, so I put some other things to the side and built this. It is made of 4×4 cedar posts, 5/4 boards for the top, pocket screws and hard wood dowels for plugging the pocket screw holes. It was finished with 4 coats of Varathane satin diamond wood finish (never used this before, will see how it holds up). You can’t see it in the pictures but the bottom 4×4 also has a curve in it. As I was building this I thinking this would be easier with a band saw, oh well maybe some day. I don’t know if we’ll keep it or give it as part of a wedding present, but it was fun to build and I am happy with how it turned out. Any comments and suggestions on how to improve are appreciated.

Alan,Very nice bench! I like the overall design and the heavy looking legs especially. The bench should give many years of service and it looks great to boot! I think you’ve got a real winner here. Good luck in the contest.